Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-02-12

hio ny IOSS anu JTldi Auu I1euIIldILCJ WluEs
and neuralgia thrust-by tho things thai
went against him rather than by the thing
that went for aim.
Again, notice great many people esti
mate their life by the amount Of money tneJ
nave made. A man tells Inc: 1.-THE year Of
l2s6, or 1876, or 1886 was all wasted" say,
"Whyw He says: II made no money!
How is it, then, that YOU are hero to-day, and
clad and fed and sheltered' You had moth
ing at the hands of God, perhaps YOU tell me;
you have no resources, Who clothed youi
Who fed youi Who sheltered YOU'D Ger
trinity you did not steal these resources
Then God gave them to you. Be thankful
! have no sympathy with the cant and by.
pocrisy of people who in pulpit and PEI
talk against money as though it lad no
value. 1t is refinement, it is education, it is
thousand blessed surroundings, it is hands,
tits feet. it is sails tn great enterprises, it is
the table sprc5i to feed the hunger of your
children, 1t is the fire to keen your family
warm, it is the building of churches, the en-
downing Of colleges, the taking of Bibles across
the sea, under God it is the evangelization of
natlons-noney. put to right uses. Toe more
man gets the better, il it comes honestly
and goes usefully. What would this world
have been without the William E. Dodges,
and the George Peabodys and the James
Lenoxes, and men of that type! Who sent
S75,000 to earthquake stricken Charleston!
New York Chamber of Commerce When
breadstuffs were to be sent across the sea TO
Ireland, starving Ireland, we took MP collec.
lions in all our churches, but the great mass
OF the money sent. the most of the bread
stuffs were sent out by men of means. While
we acknowledge the uses, the Christian uses,
of money and have no sympathy with the
insincerity or the cant that is always tale,ed
against rich men, as though they were not
as good members of society as others, as
though they were to be suspected-tbe COM
plant chiefly made by men who have not
been successful against men who have been
successful-while we have no sympathy with
that thing, tell you plainly man is most
unwise who measures this life by monetary
achievements, and he will find out this mis-.
take when the glittering stuff slips out of his
hands as he goes out of the world without
dollar Of money or a certificate of stock HI
might better have been the Christian porter
that opened his gate, or tbs Christian work
man who heave1 the coal into his cellar.
They that trust in their wealth aud boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by anv mems redeem his
brother, nor give to God a ransom for him
that he should not see corruption. The vie
men die likewise the fool. and thu british
person perish and leave their wealth TO
Others"
Substantial comfort VIII not grow
In natures barren soil:
All we can boast-till Christ we know,
Is vanity and toll"
Now, / am glad to say-turning brighter
leaf in my discourse-I am glad to say that
there are great many people who are wiser
than those of whom have spoken. and they
are measuring their life by moral aud spir-
itual development 1t is not cgotiSm for a
man to say: II am better than l used to
be: my thoughts are purer; | live by the in
spiration of higher motives; have by the
grace of God put down great many o. my
evil habits; am better man now entering
1887 than when l entered 1871" 1t is
no egotism for soldier to say: 81
understand more military tactics than when
first took up u musket and learned to pre-
sent arms and when was the pest of the drill
o:icer" 1t is no egotism for a sailor to say:
VI know moro of voyaging on the sea and
more of ratlines than did when | first
learned to clew down the mizzen topsail"
1t is no bal thing, no mean thing. no self
righteous thing for Christian man to say:
II know more about the battles of the Lord
or can sail better the VOYAGE of this life
than when first entered Christ's service"
Why there are people hero tc-lay who arc
mighty for God who once were very weak in
the Christian life, but they have measured
lances with many foe and endorsed it.
They have grown swarthy hammering at the
anvil of calamity. They have come uron
ii rerent platform from the ono on which
they stood years and years ago They measure
their life on earth by golden gated Sab
baths and Pentecostal prayer meetings and
communion seasons and baptismal fonts and
halleluiahs in the temple. Oh how changed
is their life. They have stood on Mount
Sinai and heard ii thunder. They have stood
on Mount Pisgah and looked over into the
Promised Land. They have written over
their life's troubles; "Life is but moment"
They are only waiting for the gates TO open
a.. H. - ~ 81 IL
begin.
Then notice there are great many peo-
ple-I wish there were more of them--who
are measuring their life BY the amount of
good they can do. John Bradford said he
considered the day wasted in which he did
not by pen or tongue accomplish soma good
] cannot tell how much man might ac-
comp!ish if he devoted ali his life 10 right
purposes. l cannot tell / have not
the mathematical capacity, to make
the calculation, of how many
tears he could wipe away; of how many
burdens he could lift; of how much ignor-
ance he could illumine; of how many outcasts
be could bring back to God. There are men
who have gone their whole life in the right
direction. All their faith, all Their natural
force. all their mental acumen, all their
physical energy, all their enthusiasm of soul
for God, and they climbed mountains, aud
they crossed seas and they trudged
ueSeftS Huu ttlcy uTOppeu luUO IhTbyT PThNtS
waiting for the resurrection of tho Just. They
measured their lives by the chains they had
broken, by the sorrow they had alleviated.
by the garments with which they clothed
nakedness, by the miles they journeye1
to relieve suffering of any kind and
of all kinds. That is the way
they measured life. How long have they
lived: How old art thouw How old was
Sutterl low old was Richard Baxters How
old was Philip Dodridge. Why, in practical
usefulness they have lived thousands Of years.
Add ten thousand times ten thousand more
wears and you cannot express the time they
lived. Forever. Forever. Forever. Add
all the immortalities, all the thousands OF
souls they brought to God add up all the
immortalites. Heaven to Heaven. throne
to thrcne glory to glory, and make the esti-
mate. While that is So there are persons in
this house who have not yet begun life.
We have got to be babeI in Christ before
we begin the Christian life. You say you
are so, or you are 60, or you are TO- or you
are So Ny brother, if you are not Chlts.
tian. you have not begun to live.
l do not know what your opportunities
are; do not know what your manners aFs,
attractive or repulsive; do not know what
your education. elaborate or nothing at all.
but / know there Is field for you to work,
there is soul for you to save, there is an
especial mission for YOU to execute. II
you have wealth, give it to Christ.
II you have elo1uence, use it
where Paul and Wilberforce used